Early Rock Genre

The Rock subgenre I am focusing on is the classical rock genre that is noted by artists such as Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, etc. In particular I am focusing on analyzing the musical elements of this early / classical rock and then a descriptive listening analysis of Elvis’s song Jailhouse Rock.

There are many musical elements of this early rock. First, electric guitar is a prominent instrument within the ensemble of the rock band, albeit the ensemble is usually no more than 3-6 people. Secondly, a key characteristic that differentiates rock from other genres, most notably jazz, is that rock songs provide a high emphasis on the lyrics and the singing within the composition. The singing in rock is usually more emotional and powerful than that of say the pop genre, but this is more reflective of the culture of almost a rebellious energy. Thirdly, this genre of rock music usually maintains strong, simple beats (according to the textbook, usually a four-beat cycle). This simple beat structure usually allows listeners and fans to better follow the song, and even learn and sing to the early rock songs they like. Finally, the use of technology does not pertain to early rock as much as it does to later rock, but technology is often used within rock to enhance the song through methods such as multi-track recording.

In the youtube video embedded below, you can immediately hear the electric guitar when you begin the song(0:00). Secondly, throughout the entire song you can get a feel that the singing in this song is just as important as the music (beginning at 0:07). Finally, the bass line usually helps to carry the simple, four beat structure that typically defined this early rock music. The best portion of the song to hear this four beat structure is between 0:19 and 0:29 (albeit this same “lick” is repeated throughout the song). The final element, the technological element is not that apparent in this song, aside from the electric guitar, since Elvis is literally the artist that is considered to have started the early rock genre.